Shortly after President Joe Biden on Thursday announced new sanctions on Russian banks and elites but not on Russian President Vladimir Putin himself a top Senate Democrat pointedly called on him to go further. The Democratic chairman of the House Select Committee on Intelligence, Rep. Adam Schiff, told reporters Thursday that he, too, would support removing Russia from the SWIFT banking system as many Republicans have called for as tensions worsened.
(WASHINGTON) Shortly after President Joe Biden on Thursday announced new sanctions on Russian banks and elites but not on Russian President Vladimir Putin
Tim Graham/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) Shortly after President Joe Biden on Thursday announced new sanctions on Russian banks and elites but not on Russian President Vladimir Putin himself a top Senate Democrat pointedly called on him to go further. "As we seek to impose maximum costs on Putin, there is more that we can and should do. Congress and the Biden administration must not shy away from any options including sanctioning the Russian Central Bank, removing Russian banks from the SWIFT [international banking] system, crippling Russia's key industries, sanctioning Putin personally, and taking all steps to deprive Putin and his inner circle of their assets," Sen. Bob Menendez, chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, urged the administration in a statement. The Democratic chairman of the House Select Committee on Intelligence, Rep. Adam Schiff, told reporters Thursday that he, too, would support removing Russia from the SWIFT banking system as m